I have a disassembled downfeed clutch from a J-head on my hands, which came about as a result of what seems to be loss of the retaining ring that keeps the quill feed pinion shaft from being pulled out from the quill handle clockspring side. It looks like that was what drove the disengagement of the clockspring from the pinion shaft during use of the machine, and of course one thing usually leads to another in machine repair...
In any case, the bronze worm wheel doesn't seem to want to reassemble in a way that will then allow the quill pinion shaft to pass through the main bronze sleeve bearing in the quill housing and then the worm wheel. I don't seem to be able to get the worm wheel engaged enough with the drive worm to achieve co-linearity of sleeve bearing and worm wheel. When I install the pinion shaft first, the worm wheel will not engage properly, apparently because the tooth height at the edge of the wheel is too much to pass under the worm shaft diameter.
Any suggestions, or other insights? It came apart easily...;-)
In any case, the bronze worm wheel doesn't seem to want to reassemble in a way that will then allow the quill pinion shaft to pass through the main bronze sleeve bearing in the quill housing and then the worm wheel. I don't seem to be able to get the worm wheel engaged enough with the drive worm to achieve co-linearity of sleeve bearing and worm wheel. When I install the pinion shaft first, the worm wheel will not engage properly, apparently because the tooth height at the edge of the wheel is too much to pass under the worm shaft diameter.
Any suggestions, or other insights? It came apart easily...;-)